McGowan plays the hero on Senior Night

Senior forward gets deciding goal in the third period for RPI

Published 11:05 pm, Saturday, February 28, 2015

Troy

It was Senior Night for the RPI hockey team, and Mark McGowan wasn't going to let the moment go by without inserting an exclamation point in his final appearance at Houston Field House.

The senior forward made a beautiful move on St. Lawrence goalie Kyle Hayton and found the upper left corner of the net at 13:38 of the third period to give the Engineers a regular-season ending 4-3 upset of second-place SLU in front of 3,762 ecstatic fans.

The win ended an 0-7-2 winless streak for RPI and assured a ninth-place finish that will send the Engineers (10-23-3 overall, 8-12-2 ECAC, 18 points) on the road next week for a best-of-three first-round playoff series at eighth-place Clarkson (11-18-5, 8-11-3, 19 points).

"It was that kind of game," RPI coach Seth Appert said. "It was fitting that the winner was on a kind of shot like that.

"What a real calm, composed move by McGowan and what a nice way for him to cap off Senior Night."

One other senior, goalie Scott Diebold, made a huge contribution to the effort with 34 saves in the Engineers' net.

The rest of the game belonged to RPI's freshmen, who accounted for all the other goals.

RPI, one of the worst offensive teams in the country statistically, scored three goals in a period for the second night in a row to take a 3-2 lead after the second period.

Freshman defenseman Michael Prapavessis skated through the high slot and sent a wrister past Hayton 2:30 into the second to make it 1-1, but SLU's Eric Sweetman scored at 5:41 from the left circle to regain the lead.

First-year forward Drew Melanson, RPI's leading goal scorer, added numbers eight and nine in a span of 2:07 for a 3-2 lead. He scored on a breakaway off a pass from Bradley Bell at 11:31, then tapped a loose puck outside the left post between Hayton's legs on a power play for RPI's first lead.

The Saints tied the game at 10:54 of the third period on Sweetman's second goal from long range, setting the stage for McGowan's heroics. SLU pulled Hayton late, but Diebold wouldn't be denied.

"It's probably the best feeling I've had all year," said McGowan, who had only six goals in 33 games this season before he was dragged down by Joe Sullivan on a breakaway. "Scotty Diebold was unbelievable. He won the game for us in the second period."

RPI, which tied Clarkson on Friday night, lost to the Golden Knights in their other meeting in Potsdam a few weeks ago.

"It was a good team effort," Appert said. "I'm happy for the (seven) seniors. Those guys did a really good job for us the last four years."